DICTATOR – Noun: “A dictator is one who behaves as if they have absolute power.”

There is a profound simplicity in this – since we ALL behave that way at various times in our lives.

It’s human nature to strive for power and find our place in life in relation to others. “Dictator” has taken on very negative connotations, and rightly so when used to define the political monsters of our age.

Take the word in its pure form, though, and you actually describe a teacher, a drill sergeant, a top chef, a movie critic and so many others who in the end seek to define US as either individuals or members of the herd.

I am a proud culinary dictator – I know what I like, I make no apologies for it and I have the talent and taste to enlighten others into the culinary wonders of our vast cultural history. I’ve been cooking semi-professionally for more than 30 years now and I have mastered a vast culinary repertoire complete with a database of more than 10,000 world recipes that have influenced the palates of humanity.

It’s about authenticity – not just for the old historical recipes of the past, when flavor and effort were relentlessly intertwined into the dishes of the Gilded Age. Authenticity can be found today in 3-star Michelin restaurants that shine high in the firmament of culinary excellence – as well as burning in the coals heating street food around the world.

Molecular gastronomy pursued as a mean to a culinary end is authentic – molecular gastronomy because its “cool” is bourgeois.  The rotten shark of Iceland and the freshest peach plucked from the tree – equally authentic. A slice of heirloom Chess pie matched with a well-made cocktail, or perhaps the angelic sweetness of Chateau d’Yquem as well as Tej, the Ethiopian spiced honey wine.

The use of “Food Dictator” is tongue-in-cheek (itself a bad pun for a food blog!) but I decided to start this for the simple reason that I have a photographic memory for food, a talent for finding and creating the best in recipes and a burning desire to make YOU just as much of a dictator as I am. My own recipes seek to realize the ultimate perfection of a particular dish and elevate the simplest meal into a memorable experience.

Many of my recipes are complex – many are not.

Join me in this quest and together, the revolution against the garbage that we have reduced ourselves to swilling down like pigs will succeed and lead us together into a glorious new age of culinary discovery!

Am I elitist? Hell yes. My hope is that you too will join the elite of those who dare to break the chains of mundanity and rediscover our glorious culinary past as well as the brilliant present and numinous future of authentic cuisine.

¡Viva la Revolución!